Plant Cunning Podcast

In this episode we speak with Deatra and Adam about rediscovering the lost herbal traditions of Eastern European Jews. We talk about the kinds of folk healers, from the ba'alei shem and feldshers to the opshprekherin folk magicians and midwives. We talk about how this knowledge came to be lost, how Deatra found the key to the herbal practices in an old book, and we talk about some of the actual pl...

We welcome Zamboni Funk back on the show to talk about the year ahead. First we start with the context and the bigger picture with the 200 year Saturn and Jupiter cycle, the 84 year Uranus cycle, and then get into the nitty gritty of what all the planets are doing in 2022. We look at a few dates that are really good for certain activities: Early April is good for a concert or party, April 8th is g...

Matthew Wood is an herbalist, educator (at the Matthew Wood institute of Herbalism ), and author of several modern classics of American herbalism. His new book, Holistic Medicine and the Extracellular Matrix: The Science of Healing at the Cellular Level helps holistic practitioners validate what we knew all along: this stuff works! In episode we get into the nitty gritty of what the extracellular...

Rosita Arvigo is an herbalist, ethnobotanist, Doctor of naprapathy, author and teacher living in Belize. You can find her website at RositaArvigo.com . In this episode we speak about her grandmothers taking her foraging for wild plants in Chicago as a young child, about moving to Mexico in the early 70s to resist the Vietnam war, about moving to Belize and meeting the traditional Mayan healer Don...

In this episode we speak with Emma Farrell, who is a plant spirit healer, geomancer and author of the new book Journeys with Plant Spirits: Plant Consciousness Healing and Natural Magic Practices and in this episode we speak with her about plants as spiritual teachers and allies, the importance of psychic hygiene, how our energy bodies get blocked and damaged, and how to repair them. We also talk...

This is such a great chat with a grower, seed saver, author, and generally great person, Joseph Lofhouse. If you are interested in gardening, homesteading, farming and seed saving at all you're absolutely going to love this episode. We talk about biodiversity, promiscuous planting, food security, plant varieties he loves and how he works with the weeds, insects, and animals in harmonious ways in h...

Sara is a witch for hire, teacher and author living in Pittsburgh, PA. She just came out with The Big Book of Magical Incense from Red Wheel/Weiser, and will be presenting at the Sacred Space Conference in Baltimore this January. We have a wonderful chat about magic, incense, and some of her favorite plants, including White Pine, Rose, Tobacco, and Mugwort.  You can support the podcast at Pat...

In this episode we are thrilled to speak with the fairy godmother of American herbalism herself, Rosemary Gladstar! The topics include her herbal elders, her favorite herbal allies including common plants like plantain and yarrow, and plants like schisandra, spilanthes and rhodiola. We talk about what makes an herbalist, and her long time mission to help bring back herbalism to the people as a peo...

In part one of this episode we explore astro-herbalism in it's simple practicality as well as the depth of it's complexity, and touch on medical astrology, planetary correspondences, history, temperaments, energetics, and cultivating relationships with plants and planets by understanding their shared connections.  You can find part two at Patreon.com/plantcunning for patrons of $9 and up. Sar...

In this duo cast we share what it is like at our Central NY homestead as we prepare for our third winter on this land, shout out our Patrons, talk about media fasting and elimination diets and discuss the upcoming online class with Botanicwise we are excited to share. Learn more about the program Food for Optimal Health with Paul Bergner using our affiliate link : https://www.botanicwise.com/food-...

Stephen Pollington is an accomplished author and historian with a focus on the Anglo-Saxon period and the Old English language. He's written many books on these subjects and today's episode is about, "Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plant Lore and Healing." We learned how difficult it is to translate these old texts with discrepancies among the various copies and missing sections, it's like you...

We welcome widely respected author, occultist, druid and blogger John Michael Greer back to the Plant Cunning Podcast to talk about the new edition of his book The Wealth of Nations: Economics as if Survival Mattered, what wealth is , how the whole economy is very much dependent on nature, how to invest in a declining economy, and why moving to the country to start a commune from scratch doesn't w...

Bevin is an herbalist, educator, homesteader and author of several books, including The Artisan Herbalist , which is a really good manual for making teas, tinctures, salves, oils, and start an herbal products business. He also has a book called Saving Our Seeds about seed saving. We talk about both of these books, about how to balance getting stuff done with not burning out, and paying the bills w...

In this episode we dig deep into spiritual ecology with Pam Montgomery , talking about plants as elders, who can help guide us towards right relationship with the Earth, the Spirits of plants, nature spirits, and the whole more than human world. She also gives some very practical advice for plant communication, and shows how you can work with Plant Spirit Allies using many different modalities.&nb...

In this episode, AC and Isaac talk about plans for the podcast, the wonderful harvest season and all the globular fruits (puffballs, apples, pumpkins, potatoes, hawthorns, etc), the amazing daikon radish, the amazing wine cap stropheria, some of our favorite master recipes (hot and sour soup, "palaak paneer", pesto), the glorious sun, and cleaning out the barns! Let us hear your feedback by emaili...

We have a great time with Mountain Mel, talking about each of our plant paths, how to run an herbal business (she has a successful one!), and what's in our herbal library. Check her out at: The Herbalists's Path Support us at Patreon.com/PlantCunning

We welcome the village witch of Asheville back to the podcast and have a lovely, but deep and heavy chat about seasonal celebrations, cycles, death, loss and acceptance. This is part 1 of the interview, part 2 is available for our $9 and up patrons at Patreon.com/plantcunning . Find Seasons of a Magical Life:A Pagan Path of Living at any local bookstore! Byron on IG @ByronBallard5789 on Facebook,...

In this episode we speak with Neal Peterson, who has devoted over 40 years to breeding pawpaws (Asimina triloba). We talk about how he first fell in love with this delicious fruit, how he tracked down the remnants of the early 20th century pawpaw collections just in time, and selected 7 superior pawpaw cultivars out of 1,500 seedlings. You can find his website at: Petersonpawpaws.com And support t...

In  this episode we speak with Eric about some more of his favorite plants, including sweet potato, hickory and chestnut, about how to start a DIY nursery, selecting genetics for nursery stock, the secret of how to eat sunchokes so you don't gas out all your friends, and some very important appropriate technologies. You can find him on facebook as Eric Joseph Lewis , and on Instragram at @eri...

In this episode we speak with Eric about getting interested in plants after finding out he was living in a field of lowbush blueberries, the influence of Frank Cook, natural male birth control with Papaya seeds, and some of his favorite plants. You can find him on facebook as Eric Joseph Lewis , and on Instragram at @ericjosephlewisplants , and the nursery he is affiliated with is Plant Path Nurse...

We speak with esotericist, author and director of studies for the Institute for Hermetic Studies , Mark Stavish, about alchemy and spagyrics, always keeping the end goal in mind, the purpose and the future of esotericism, the importance of group work, and how to build an effective group.

The number 42 is AC's fav and we talk about why briefly. We draw inspiration from some of our previous episodes and dive a bit deeper into some topics discussed like diversity, dissensus (and do-ocracies), climate crisis, grief and how to throw mud at walls. Of course, discussing plants is also a big part of the episode. We talk about wild flowers, weeds, cottage gardens and dumpstered potatoes.&n...

In this episode we speak with Siv about the wide world of the "smalls", how to interact with microbes as people, where humans ends and bacteria begins, horses, and lots more fun. You can find Siv at https://www.microanimism.com/ and you can support the podcast at Patreon.com/PlantCunning

In this episode we speak with Janet Kent about learning herbalism as a young punk, starting Terra Sylva School of Botanical Medicine , radical vitalism, the autonomic nervous system (and herbs for that!), and her famous "grief relief" formula (which she shared with us and is posted below!) Acute Grief Tincture Hawthorn (Berries, Flowers or both) 4 parts Peach leaf 3 parts Motherwort 2 parts Kava k...

In this episode we speak with herbalist Guido Masé about consciousness, will, the beauty of science, how herbalism helps him unite his love of science with his love of spirit (and plants!) We talk about the importance of phytochemical diversity, "wild plant deficiency syndrome",  and dancing with darkness.  You can support the podcast at Patreon.com/plantcunning